Explorers of the Azure
by PsycoDragonKiller
Summary: Written out of memory and existence, Ragna made good on his promise to return everyone's dreams to the Azure. Left afloat in an endless sea of blue, a voice calls to him, offering him a chance at a new life in exchange for a favor. Unable to respond, yet willing to accept the offer, Ragna is sent to a new world. A world of possibilities. A world of exploration. A world of Pokemon.


**Important note: I do not own Pokemon or Blazblue. Also, the first part is an almost word for word recreation of one of the final scenes in BB Central Fiction. I wasn't quite sure where to start this, so that's where I chose to do it! If you wanna skip it since it might not be interesting, then just move to the second line-break.**

 **Alright, that's it, enjoy the story.**

* * *

Had he believed in any benevolent higher power he would have sent them a prayer of thanks. Standing before the gate, both clothing and body tattered and worn from a recent battle, Ragna couldn't help but give a long sigh of relief. He'd done, he stopped Terumi and brought an end to the horrific cycle of death and despair. There was just one last piece, a final act that would bring the curtain down on this world and rise to reveal a new one, a world of possibility. It would be a world free from the taint of the madman Yuuki Terumi and the Interventions of Takamagahara. There would be no End of Days or flood of despair to drown the world.

All that would be, is a world of possibilities determined by mortal actions and a relative peace it was deprived of for so long.

The soft tapping of leisurely footfalls broke Ragna from his musings and he turned to the source, a small smile forming at the sight of the pink clad man.

"It's you..."

"...I witnessed your dance." The man said, stopping a couple feet from the red clad Reaper. "It was magnificent."

"I see..." Ragna mused quietly. He didn't need to speak, the other man knew what he was going to ask.

"...Don't worry. There's nothing left of you in the Takamagahara System. Whatever happens now, you won't have to worry about its interference."

"Sorry for the trouble."

"It's fine. This is my way of saying thank you for your splendid dance." The man assured him with a happy grin. "It was truly a spectacle."

"So, I guess this means you're the last one, Observer."

"It's so unfortunate that I won't be able to remember such a beautiful dance." The man lamented with a dramatic tone. "The name "Amane" sheds a tear..." The man, Amane, shifted to a more serious tone as he continued. "I see... so what do you intend to do now?"

"I'm going to return everyone's dreams to the Azure," Ragna stated with a glance at the gate looming beside them. "The world that'll be created... won't be affected by intervention from Amaterasu or Takamagahara. It'll be everyone's world... except for mine."

Amane developed a more somber look at Ragna's words as he too looked over at the huge gate beside them. It was huge, made of what appeared to be some kind of metal with brightly glowing designs. The gate to the Azure, and entrance to the boundary itself. He had his suspicions about the reaper's intentions, but seeing where they were and hearing the man's words left little to the imagination.

"Hope in the form of possibilities, extending from all directions, in the past, present and future..." Amane fiddled with his scarf in thought. "I've never seen a world reconstructed on such a large scale before... So this is the True Azure... The power of the Azure Flame Grimoire..."

"You're wrong. This isn't my power or the power of the Azure. It's the power of everyone's possibilities."

This would be his final statement in this world. Now that everything was in order he could finally disappear, taking with him all the memories this world had of him. A light started to grow brighter by the moment, engulfing all colors in an impenetrable white veil, only to disappear leaving behind a blank space with naught but a large gate.

* * *

Now here he was, floating in the turbulent currents of the Azure. It could have been days, weeks, maybe even months or years, but he wouldn't know. Time meant nothing here, so for all he knew he'd just missed his one-hundredth birthday. It didn't even feel like a long time, at least, not anymore. At first, every moment felt like a century, but now that hardly seemed to register. There was nothing here in this blue expanse, nothing to give a welcome respite to the endless shades of blue, and so he would float on. Forever drifting in the Azure, in the boundary, no end in sight.

Until a voice, gentle yet echoing with the same force as one who had shouted into a cavernous room broke the once impenetrable silence.

"Drifting afloat in this endless expanse, without any hope of escape... Truly an ill-fitting end to one such as yourself. Yes, this will not do at all..."

He tried to speak, to question the voice that gave him a merciful respite from the suffocating silence, but his own voice was as silent as the blue expanse he floated in.

"To think that this was the reward you were to receive for fixing the tragedies of your home... Unforgivable, unacceptable... This must be righted. This must not be allowed to continue."

He tried again, and once more silence was the product of his efforts.

"As it stands, there is a situation that must be dealt with, one with which I cannot become directly involved... Yes, that should work... No, it will work."

The endless sea of blue pulsed, then seemingly warped into some kind of a tunnel. There wasn't a visible end to it, but the sight of some sort of change occurring to the monotonous azure plane around him gave him a sense of hope.

"You will be my certainty. You will be my trump card in this despicable struggle. With you standing in his way, this world might have a fighting chance!"

Again, the blue streams shifted, widening and narrowing into a single point. A small circle, the destination of the raging rivers of energy, started to grow bigger by the moment.

"Of course, this will not come without a little incentive. I will not expect you to do this for free, even if it will give you a respite from this place. Therefore, with the limited control I have, I will give you something that was taken from you."

An even bigger sensation of hope burned in his chest, but the voice's next words simultaneously dimmed and expanded it. While he would not obtain one thing he wanted, another with a much greater significance was offered its stead.

"I am incapable of replacing those arms of yours, though altering their shapes to better fit you is not outside of my capabilities. No, the gift I am giving you besides such minor alterations is much more precious. Long ago, you lost your childhood. It was cut apart and burned, much like your right arm and home, but I will give it back. I will shrink you, mold you into a child once more, and give you the opportunity to have a worthwhile childhood once more. I will grant you temporary peace from the burdens of your past, and let you grow without pre-existing pains or regrets."

Now he was falling, the azure currents taking hold of his body and dragging it to the bright white light at the end of the tunnel. If he looked closely, he could almost see a bit of green and brown amidst the purity of the light.

"Now, Ragna the Bloodedge, accept my gift and the consequences that come with it. Though memories of this encounter shall never return to you, I am sure that you will pull through for me in the end. Good luck, you deserve it."

The circle of light grew bigger and bigger, now encompassing all that he could see. An endless sea of the purest white possible drowned his vision and gave way to something grand, something he had always hoped to see.

The beautiful rainbow of a new world.

* * *

Ugh... what the hell? What happened...

"Oh, dear me! Is he alright?"

"He doesn't look it... Jeez, poor little guy..."

What? Who's there? Someone... talking... gah, my head...

"Did he really fall all that way? Wow, he's pretty resilient."

"Lucky is more like it. Had this been anywhere else- hm?"

I felt a soft, furry hand gently touch my arm and slowly move it, but that simple motion was enough to send a sharp spike of pain right up my limb and into my hazy brain. I let out a raspy groan and tried to pull away from the soft yet painful grasp. They didn't let go. I pulled harder and gasped as an even sharper spike of pain shanked my brain and let me know that trying to escape the unbreakable grasp was pointless. Alright, if they didn't want to leave me alone I might as well see who it was. It took quite a bit of effort, but after a few seconds, I managed to blink my eyes open.

I was not prepared for the sight that awaited me.

"Ah, you're awake," said the same voice that had made a comment about my luck. I stared, blinked, shook my head, and finally settled on a blank look at the fucking tall as shit weasel thing kneeling over me. It was bizarre, what with its white and purple. "That's amazing, truly. Given the distance at which you fell, I was not expecting you to wake up so soon."

"Wh-... wha-..." I tried to ask them what they were, and what they meant by "distance at which you fell," but my voice just wouldn't work. It was my throat, it was parched. No, it was beyond parched, it was perfectly dry, or at least close enough. I coughed and licked my lips, noticing they were chapped cracking at every movement.

"Oh, you poor thing! Here, drink this," the other voice cooed in the most comforting and slightly degrading tone I have ever heard. I weakly turned to it and saw a large pink and tan creature with swirly ear... things... holding out a canteen of some kind. It was smiling at me, and holy shit was that smile making me uncomfortable. I reached hesitantly for the bottle and immediately pulled a hard mental reset at the sight of a strange black limb replacing my arm, though a small metal thing seemingly implanted into it was somehow a comforting sight.

Furry...

Lacking fingers...

"What the fuck," I croaked. My voice quickly rose despite the condition of my throat as the realization of what I was seeing fully set in: I wasn't human anymore. "What the fuck... What the fuck. _What the fuck._ _**What the fuck!**_ "

I became hysterical. My breaths grew ragged and rapid, my pulse quickened and I started feeling light headed. This was not normal, not possible, completely inconceivable! I looked back up at the two larger creatures staring at me and started thrashing, my movements freeing my arm from that purple and white thing's grasp and I threw myself away from them as best I could. I had no hands, and I wasn't a biped anymore, and yet I still tried to stand on two legs and run away. I flopped, again and again, panting harshly as I tried to escape.

This must be their doing. Those two must have changed me! There's no other explanation. They did something to me, and now I'm some black and red creature!

"Wait, you're still injured! Stop mo-"

"Shut up," I yelled, my voice cracking. A small drop of blood from my painfully dry throat splashed onto my tongue. "What did you do to me? What the hell happened?"

"Now, calm down, child. I assure you we did nothi-" The purple and white thing tried to comfort me, but I was having none of it.

"Like hell, I'll believe that! I used to be a human, and now I wake up as some quadruped thing with you two freaks staring at me and no idea what the fuck happened! You did something to me, I know it." I growled, a feral sound I wasn't aware I could make, and that sent my mind further into a frenzy.

"I promise you, we had nothing to do with your situation." The pink and tan thing with the curly ears said. "We were just returning from a job when we saw something come shooting across the sky. Something, which turned out to be you, came crashing down here, while another kept going and landed further away. I promise you, with all my heart, that my partner and I had absolutely nothing to do with this. We just wanted to help..."

I paused, my frenzied eyes glaring at them, analyzing them and the words of the curly eared thing then gave a sigh of resignation. I wasn't sure if I could trust them but given their expressions and what I assumed was sincerity in their words... Well... I guess I have to trust them. Not completely, I'm not that stupid, but a tiny bit of trust wouldn't hurt.

"Alright, I'll believe you, for now," I said with the last part being delivered with a warning growl. Seriously, this growling thing is going to take some time to get used to, along with my new body. The two things visibly relaxed and stayed where they were. They seemed to be willing to keep their distance and I was thankful for that.

"Good, I'm glad you're willing to listen to us. I am being honest when I saw neither of us has any ill intentions towards you." The purple and white thing said while holding out a hand. "My name is Sho, and this is my partner Anna. We're a part of the local explorers' guild's rescue division. What is your name, young Zorua?"

Zorua... That must be the creature I was turned into. I was some furry thing called a Zorua. Holy shit, this is bizarre... Oh, he's offering me his hand. Does he want a handshake or something? I might as well, don't what to seem too rude to them. Who knows, they might know something useful.

"Ragna... My name is Ragna. Nice to meet you, I guess." I dragged myself over and hesitantly shook his hand. It was weird doing it with a paw, but I'll just have to deal with it. I might get used to it later on. Sho smiled and gently slid his hand up my foreleg, gently squeezing certain parts of it, causing me to flinch every time.

"Hm, seems you just sprained it. It's not even a bad sprain, so there's really nothing to worry about." He looked at the metal dome on the back of my paw and grimaced. "Though this is an entirely different story. I'm not sure what this is, but it does not look good. Not only is this limb discolored, it also has metal grafted onto it. Tell me, do you know what this is, and why someone saw the need to have it attached to your body in such a way?"

I studied my limb, and despite the metal, nothing seemed too different to me. Sure, it was black and had metal, but that couldn't be too unusual, right? I moved it a bit and it seemed alright. I put it on the ground and put weight on it, and the metal didn't seem to cause any problems. Everything about the limb seemed perfectly fine.

"Don't have a clue," I bluntly said with a look at my other paw. "I got the same thing on my left one, but it's gray. Neither are causing me any pain or anything, so is it really a big deal?"

"I guess not," Sho acquiesced as he stood up. "Now, are you willing to accept a drink? It's not good to speak when your throat is as dry as it is."

I nodded and was presented with the same canteen, though now I ran into the issue of how to drink from it. I had no hands, so I couldn't really grab it, and I'm almost certain they wouldn't want me to try and pick it up by the nozzle with my mouth. Not sure what to do, I stared at the canteen with a blank look that the pink and tan thing named Anna must have noticed. She moved the canteen forward and tilted it for me to drink from it, which I did. I drank, and drank, and drank until I felt satisfied. With an explosive sigh of relief, I collapsed into a seating position.

"Well, now that you're calm and watered, would you mind coming with us?" Anna asked while putting her canteen away. "We're on our way back to our village and it would be a good idea for you to travel with us. I'm sure you have questions, and so do we. I'd also like to give you a proper medical analysis given your rather violent landing."

Medical treatment and answers? OK lady, what are you playing at?

"You sure about that," I asked. "I don't know anything about you besides your names, and right now I'm drawing a blank on anything besides my name and the fact I'm supposed to be a human."

"We're sure, dear," Anna assured with that wide smile. "It's our job, actually. As Rescuers, we help others in need, and you are definitely in need. Also, if what you say is true, then you know absolutely nothing about the world. You're utterly helpless."

"Gah, alright, fine," I grumbled. That comment about me being helpless struck a chord in me. "Since I'm apparently "utterly helpless", I'll need you two to tell me what's what, right?"

"That's right," Anna affirmed with that unwavering smile of hers. "Now, come along little one. We'll talk as we walk."

Turning with an exaggerated flourish, Anna strode on down the path as if she forgot us. I shared a look with Sho and stumbled after the way too happy Anna. Sho walked beside me. The two of us were taking a more leisurely pace so I could get used to my new body.

"You seemed pretty OK with me being a human," I began. I might as well kick off this little Q&A with a thought of my own. "You're obviously not one, so what's up with that? A little too believing if you ask me..." Sho looked to the sky and raised a paw towards the clouds, his response coming in a dreamy tone.

"There have been other humans that were sent here. If what you say is true, then it isn't really that much of a concern. After the last few disasters, there were a few more humans that popped up here. I personally knew one of them. He was a kind lad, with a dream he shared with his closest friend. They both wanted to build a paradise, one where Pokemon could live in peace and harmony. It was a great ideal that gave rise to a sprawling city." Sho grinned and lowered his paw. "They are truly an inspiration to all."

"Wait, other humans came here, and they all had to deal with disasters of some kind?" I asked, wondering about the circumstances behind my own arrival in this world. I wasn't quite looking forward to dealing with some world shattering disaster of any kind.

"I'm sure there are others that just found their way here by accident, but the most prominent ones were young adventurers and rescuers whose efforts have saved or changed the world in one way or another." Sho looked down and gave me a reassuring pat on the head, "But I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. There has been no sign of any major disaster of any kind, and it's not like those heroes had to save the day right after arriving here. There is no telling what the future holds, but given the evidence we currently have it's not very likely that another disaster will arise that would require your attention."

I breathed a sigh of relief at that reassurance. Had I known of any gods or higher powers, I'm certain I'd have sent them a prayer of thanks.

"Now that that bit of our world has been explained, we can get to the more important stuff." Sho reached into a bag he had hanging at his side and pulled out a notebook. "It is time to begin your lessons on the rest of the world. We shall begin with the basics, starting with what you are and what your kind can do, then we will move on to information about other Pokemon. From there we will..."

I stared at the notebook as Sho droned on and on about what he would be going over. The once average sized notebook no seemed far larger and much more intimidating than it did a second ago, and I just barely managed to hold in a groan. If there was one thing I remember besides being human, it was my apparent dislike of long and boring lectures.

And so, with a pair of unusual traveling companions and no idea what to do, I submitted to the impending lecture. At the very least, it would probably make the trip go by faster.

* * *

 **Hello folks, psyco here with another story idea. I know, I've been having too many of these lately, but I figured that if I put them all out there then I will just be able to add to them when ideas for the chapters hit me. This way, I can avoid having these thoughts distracting me when I'm trying to write other stories, and scratch that mental itch telling me to make said story.**

 **I hope you enjoyed it. I know haven't been getting much feedback on my polls about what I should do with Ragna's species and other such stuff, so I went with my gut feeling. For those who actually did respond, thank you, and I want you to know that I DID give your ideas some thought. I just thought about the Ragna I know from the games and went with the one I thought would fit him the best.**


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